On Friday, a health advisory was issued with regard to Santa Clara Valley’s air quality. The public was instructed to avoid outdoor exercise as, although the wildfire smoke present over the Bay Area is slowly thinning away, its quantity is still above the safety limit.

On Saturday, a significant decrease of the soot atmospheric concentration could be noticed and, as westerly winds are expected to come in strong, the pollution level is very likely to be brought down over the next few days.

Yesterday was the first day since Wednesday when no health advisory was needed for regions in the east and center of Contra Costa and Alameda and Benicia. These counties have been seriously affected by hundreds of fires that broke out
last weekend.

According to state officials, all throughout California, there are currently over 15,000 firefighters, 1,000 fire engines and some 80 helicopters employed in the fight with more than 1,000 fires.

The presence of smoke in the air can have some rather serious effects on people’s health, as dust and soot fine particles can be easily inhaled thus causing major discomfort and a series of illnesses.

Last weekend’s fire-provoking lightning strikes were brought about by rather unusual weather conditions, unexpectedly formed in the aforementioned regions of the state. According to Warren Blier, National Weather Service meteorologist, lightning phenomena may be seen this Friday as well, but their intensity won’t even come close to that of the last week’s round.